STILL ON THIS SIDE OF THE POND - and patiently waiting for a weather window for our crossing to Bimini.  To get everyone caught up on activities since last blog  - we are presently anchored in a pretty little bay (however, today in another strong blow) across from Bakers Haulover Inlet just before North Miami.  There is a park here for Izzy to run off some energy so we have taken the opportunity to get the dinghy down (first for this season) and reintroduce her to proper etiquette when riding in the dinghy.  We've made several runs and so far so good - although her sharp nails make us a little nervous on our inflatable raft and her impatience "just let me swim the rest of the way" attitude when approaching shore needs some work. 

    

Now I remember how this works -  you climb in and it takes you to land.

Come on Mom - HURRY UP!

Our original plan for anchoring was the anchorage in downtown Miami , but you just never know what kind of delays you may encounter when traveling the intracoastal.  Just our luck - when approaching the Golden Beaches Causeway we were informed by the Coast Guard that "sir there is a situation on the bridge and we have no idea how long it will take" all traffic on the bridge and under the bridge was shut down for about four hours.  We never did find out what happened with the situation on the bridge, but turned out to be a blessing in disguise for us - the anchorage is very pleasant with a park, swimming beach (with clear water) kayaks you can rent to paddle thru the many mangrove covered rivers and quiet solitude. 

Situation on the Bridge?

Plan to pull into Dinner Key Marina tomorrow and get Izzy's Vet health certificate (required for importation into the Bahamas) and then see what the weather brings.  The delay in crossing has given us some time to get boat, dinghy, watermaker (found a leak and having part shipped in to marina) checked out prior to pulling up anchor and heading to the land where costly shipping charges make breakdowns even more painfull.